Bullet to the Heart
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: What if Natalia had accidentally shot Ryan when she was hypnotized? He takes a bullet to the shoulder, she takes as bullet to the heart. What will she do when she realizes what has happened? Calleigh/Natalia friendship. Hints of Ryan/Nat and Eric/Cal.


_**So I absolutely loved the Halloween episode. It was brilliant. And Natalia actually got screen time, which she never really does. I though that was a nice touch although the scene where she where Horatio and Ryan have her pinned to the floor is really sad. So anyway, I really wanted to write a little oneshot about what would have happened if Ryan had been shot. It turned out a little differently than I intended, but I think that's okay.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own them. I if I did Natalia would you know…actually get screen time.**_

_**Spoilers: The Halloween Episode and the Seventh Season Finalle.**_

Natalia could hear Calleigh's voice as if it was coming from the end of a very long tunnel, but she could not make out the words. She blinked trying to clear the fog from her mind and slowly a room came into focus. It was white and very sterile looking. It was a hospital room. Natalia hated hospital rooms. She had spent much too much time in them already.

"Nat," Calleigh spoke again, and her soft southern accent reassured Natalia slightly, "Can you hear me?"

"Um hum," Natalia mumble still slightly dazed as she turned to face her friend. After a moment, she registered the look on Calleigh's face. It was that of concern. "What happened?" she asked as pieces of memories came back to her.

"You were undercover," Calleigh started.

"I remember that part," Natalia told her shaking her head as she sat up, "What happened next?"

"She drugged you," Calleigh explained slowly carefully gauging her friend's reaction to her words. "The drugs made you highly susceptible to suggestions. She told you to go to an abandoned warehouse. Horatio and Ryan followed you there." Calleigh paused considering very carefully what she was about to say. "What do you remember?"

"I remember walking though the lab," Natalia started pausing to think, "I was barefoot, and there was a trail of blood. I followed the trail down the hall, and Nick was cleaning the floor. He started walking towards me. I told him to go away, but he just kept walking. So I turned around, but he was behind me too. I took out my gun and started shooting. He wouldn't leave me alone."

"It's okay," Calleigh told her gently, reaching out and taking her friend's hand in her own. Natalia was visibly shaking, and there were tears starting to fill her eyes.

"I just want him to leave me alone," she whispered.

"I know," Calleigh replied softly, "I know."

"Hey Cal," Eric said sticking his head in, "Ryan's out of sur…" Eric's voice trialed off as he realized that Natalia was awake and watching him, and Calleigh was giving him a look that could freeze molten lava.

"What?" Natalia asked looking from Calleigh to Eric. "Why is Ryan in surgery?"

"She doesn't know?" Eric asked looking not at Natalia but at Calleigh.

"I was getting there," Calleigh replied coolly looking at Eric. She loved him to death, but there were times where locking him up in a broom closet for a couple of hours really would be the best solution. "Do you mind?"

"What? No," Eric said finally tumbling to the fact that he had not made himself welcome, "I'm just going to go get a…" His voice drifted off again. "See you later, Cal, Nat." Then he left the room.

Calleigh shook her head. She knew he was a little flustered, they all were, but he could have used a bit more tact. His comment had done nothing to help calm Natalia. Granted the information Calleigh now had to give her was not going to help any, but Natalia was smart. She would figure it out one way or another.

"Calleigh," Natalia asked, her voice so strong and steady that it surprised both of them, "What happened?"

"Ryan was shot," Calleigh told her. There was no point sugar coating it. That only made reality sting more.

"Who shot him?" Natalia asked, fearing the answer that some part of her already knew.

Calleigh was silent for a moment considering her next words, but Natalia spoke before she did. The silence had been enough of an answer.

"I saw two Nicks in there," Natalia spoke slowly considering what she knew, "You said Horatio and Ryan came after me. That is two people. I shot at them thinking it was Nick didn't I? I shot Ryan. Didn't I?"

"Yes," Calleigh answered simply. At that moment, she would have given anything in the world to be able to answer that question no, but she could not lie, not about something like this. If it were her, she would want to know the truth.

"How bad is it?" Natalia asked quietly.

"Not to bad," Calleigh replied. Natalia was analyzing the situation. Calleigh had seen other people do it before, and she had done it before more than once. In the very short term it helped because one could assess the problem analytically before emotion entered the picture. The problem was the emotion would inevitably enter the picture. "I think he only took one round to the shoulder."

"You think?"

"Eric was the one waiting for information of Ryan's condition," Calleigh explained, "I've been in here with you the entire time."

"Why?" Natalia asked looking up at Calleigh.

"Why what?" the blonde woman asked slightly confused.

"Why did you stay with me instead of Ryan?" Natalia clarified, "He was shot. I shot him. You should be with him not me."

Calleigh considered her words carefully knowing that Natalia was starting to realize, emotionally, what had happened. "Eric is with him," she repeated, "and you're in the hospital too."

"But," Natalia started to protest. She knew what a gun felt like in her hand, and she knew what it felt like to pull the trigger and release a bullet. She knew all that, and she knew that less than five hours ago she had pulled the trigger not once, but several times and one of those rounds had hit Ryan. The other thing she knew, and possibly the thing that pained her most, was that Ryan and Horatio had never even taken their weapons out. She had been shooting at them like a madman, and they had not even taken out their guns because they did not want to hurt her.

"Listen to me, Natalia," Calleigh told her friend firmly, "I've been where you. I've been where Ryan is. And I would choose a bullet in the shoulder any day. When I shot at Eric last year." She paused repressing a shudder at the though of the actions that could have cost her everything that she had held dear. "I did not know what I would do if I had hit him because I honestly thought I had."

"But you didn't know it was him," Natalia pointed out, "And he was driving a car at you."

"Did you know it was Ryan?" Calleigh asked glad that Natalia had pointed out what she had.

"No," Natalia replied quietly, after a moments pause.

"Exactly," Calleigh told her, "You though it was Nick, and you though he was going to hurt you. Just like I thought the person in that car was going to hurt me."

"You would never hurt Eric." It was the only thing that Natalia could think of to say. She was to busy processing what Calleigh was telling her.

"And you would never hurt Ryan or Horatio," Calleigh agreed. She knew that Natalia was not quiet convinced so she added, "And there is not a single person in the lab who would ever claim you did."

Natalia did not answer. She merely nodded. She knew that there was a lot of truth to what Calleigh was saying because Calleigh was speaking from experience. Natalia could remember how she felt during the whole affair last summer, but only now did she realize that it must have been harder on Calleigh than anyone ever realized.

"Do you think he'll blame me?" Natalia asked after a moment.

That was one of the things she feared most in this whole thing. Taking a bullet to the shoulder was not so bad. Obviously it was better if it could be avoided, but in the long run it was a pretty trivial injury compared to some of the things they had seen. No, what worried her was her partnership with Ryan. Their relationship meant a lot to her, and she shuddered to think how this might affect it. After all, how could he ever trust her to have his back if she had shot him.

Calleigh considered the question for a moment before replying. She was very tempted to point out that in all the time Natalia and Ryan had worked together Ryan had blamed several things on Natalia, but very few of those things were actually her fault. The things that were her fault…he would never blame on her. Actually, Calleigh had a feeling that if Natalia walked up to Ryan and shot him, Ryan would not blame her for it. They had a very strange relationship. Of course now was not the time to explain this to Natalia, so Calleigh went with a different answer.

"Nat, he is not going to hold this against you. If anything he is going to be angry with himself because he let the psychic hurt you."

"That wasn't his fault."

"You know that, and I know that," Calleigh agreed, "But Ryan will probably go to his grave believing that it was."

Natalia let out a small laugh, and Calleigh smiled at her.

"Can I see him?" Natalia asked.

"I'm not sure that is a good idea right now," Calleigh replied slowly.

"I thought you said he wasn't going to hold it against me."

"He's not," Calleigh said, "But you have been drugged, hypnotized and knocked unconscious in the past three hours. I really don't think you need to be running around right now."

"It's not running around," Natalia pointed out, "I'm going to one specific room to talk to one specific person."

"Fine," Calleigh agreed knowing that Natalia's pure stubbornness would win out in the end. It was not that Calleigh could not be stubborn, because she could; it was that she really did not want to be right now. "But I am coming too."

"As you wish," Natalia told her, "Now do I have real close around here somewhere?" Calleigh smiled and pointed to the corner.

A few minutes later the two women were walking down the hall towards Ryan's room. It was not a very long walk from Natalia's room and Calleigh was ready to offer assistance if her friend needed it. She did not. They paused outside the doorway.

"Go ahead," Calleigh urged the other woman, "I'm going to wait out here."

Natalia nodded and moved towards the door. Opening it a little ways, she knocked. Ryan looked up and seeing her standing there waved her in. The door closed. Calleigh watched though the window as Natalia moved towards the bed, and the two began talking.

"So how is she doing?" Eric asked coming up behind Calleigh and wrapping his arm around her waist.

Calleigh looked in though the window again before answering. The two people beyond the glass were both laughing and smiling.

"I think she's going to be just fine," Calleigh said finally, "I think they both are."

**_So it ended a little happier. Obviously Ryan and Nat are going to have some problems to sort out but they will get through them together._**

_**By the way I am almost done with another fic that centers around them at the end of tis episode. So keep an eye out for that. Please Review.**_


End file.
